Sliding Wear of Plasma Sprayed ZrO₂ Coatings using Nanostructured Powder

Plasma sprayed yttria-stabilized zirconia coatings were deposited using nanostructured and conventional powders with optimized process parameters. The sliding wear of both coatings against stainless steel were examined with a block-on-ring test under dry friction condition. It was found that the friction coefficients and wear rates of coatings deposited using the nanostructured powder were lower than that of coatings deposited using the conventional powder. The high wear resistance of the plasma sprayed ZrO₂ coating using the nanostructured powder is attributed to its enhanced cohesion, improved microhardness and homogeneous microstructure.